Fourth Trimester Week 10

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Happy Friday friends! Hope you had a wonderful New Year, I’m checking in with another update on how life with this little man is going! Side note, his eyes are still blue. When did your kid’s eyes change? I would be so surprised if they stayed blue!

Body

Getting stronger! Oh man, was I sore after the first couple weeks of workouts and I’ve definitely had some aches and pains I’ve had to work through. Being patient with myself is KEY. The thing is, this isn’t my first time being sidelined for as long as I was, so I’m not stranger from starting from scratch. I’ve actually learned to love it, it’s the one time I see continual improvements in strength and endurance.

Since I know many of you are following my weight loss, know this: I did not weigh myself during the holidays. I gave myself the grace to enjoy them. I’ve also been the most focused on getting enough calories in to make sure that my breastfeeding supply stays up, that’s priority one, not weight loss. I actually tracked my calories/macros one day only to find that at the end of the day I was only at 1200 calories.

That’s not a weight loss number I recommend for anyone during weight loss much less a breastfeeding mama. So right now, my priority is to make sure I’m eating enough to keep my supply up. I’d be lying if I said that I felt comfortable in my body 100% of the time because I don’t. It’s just that I care more about our breastfeeding success right now than weight loss.

Emotional/Well Being

So I figured out that if I swaddle him and put him in his swing with the noise maker he will sleep at least 2 hours. Actually, I think he would sleep longer than that but I usually wake him up so he doesn’t go more than 3 hours without nursing during the day. Now, here is the thing. I KNOW that letting babies take naps in the swing probably builds bad habits, HOWEVER, we also put him down to practice napping in his bassinet at least twice a day. So that being said, those 2 hours make me feel like a human.

I usually work, catch up on emails and write blog posts, then before I wake him up I eat something. Those two hours make him a happier baby and make me feel like I might actually be able to keep things afloat without hiring a full-time nanny. (I will be hiring someone for teaching and for when I see clients, but that’s a different topic.) So, as far as emotional well being I’m currently on some kind of high enjoying both my two hours of productivity daily and my well-rested baby after.

Sleep

Sleep this week has not been fantastic, in fact, it’s been the opposite of fantastic. For some unknown reason for most of the week, the baby only slept 40 minutes at a time. I actually took him into the pediatrician after seeing this post, but he did not have an ear infection.

The doctor recommended gripe water and said to basically ride it out. Not sure what is going on there but I pray that it doesn’t continue. We used this swaddle trick and that night he slept pretty normally so here is to hope it continues because I’m one tired mama.

Breastfeeding

Successes:

I was having a problem with him not wanting to breastfeed but it turns out its just fatigue. I would rock him and console him and try to get him to feed. Then one day, I gave up and put him down for a nap instead of trying to get him to feed and you know what? He breastfed just fine after a 20-minute nap. So I learned anytime he doesn’t want to breastfeed I put him down for a nap and he nurses fine after that.

For a week I pumped after every feed between 8am and 4 pm. I couldn’t bring myself to get up and pump after PM feeds and after 4 he cluster feeds so it’s too hard to pump. I think it helped my milk supply. I’ve also been power pumping for a few days.

I bought this pumping bra and it’s working out nicely since I’ve been doing so much pumping. In fact, I’m using it right now while I type up this post! It also helps because when I have help here I can pump and work on the computer while the baby gets a bottle.

Challenges:

We are still watching his weight very closely at home. I bought a scale to make sure that he hits his minimum weight gain. The doctor wants a minimum of one-half ounce per day so far so good but I’m putting it under challenges because I think it is something we will watch for a while.

I need to call the lactation consultant I’m working with and find out now what? How often do I need to power pump or pump additionally to keep the supply up? I assume if I stop doing all the extra I’m doing it will drop again?

3 sets: 15 banded bodyweight squats, 2-minute walking lunches, 15 leg lifts –> ( this was supposed to be part of a stroller workout from Post Baby Bod program, but I’m not a fan of the stroller workouts so I split up the walking and strength portion.)

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Hungry Hobby is a daily food and fitness log where Registered Dietitian Kelli Shallal shares fun healthy recipes, nutrition and fitness tips and a little bit of life. Read More…

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